


Escape Room

by NotMyBestIdea



Series: All Sterek Drabbles, All the Time [10]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Drabble, Drabble Collection, Enemies to Lovers, Getting Together, Locked In, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2019-10-08 17:10:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17390336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotMyBestIdea/pseuds/NotMyBestIdea
Summary: Stiles is trapped in a dark room with Derek Hale, of all people.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: ankle, leg, appear

Teleporting was very disorienting, especially when you didn’t do it under your own power.

Stiles had been heading for his front door and then he had appeared here. Wherever here was. Somewhere dark and cold, maybe a basement room.

He heard a groan; someone else was here.

“Hello?” Stiles put out a hand and stepped forward. His foot hit something and he crouched down, feeling around. He found an ankle, and a leg, both thankfully attached to someone’s body. There was another groan.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Don’t ask stupid questions.”

Stiles knew that voice, unfortunately. “Hale?”

“Great. McCall’s minion.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: cup, deliver, hope

“Banana,” Stiles said, immediately giving in to the impulse.

“What? Never mind. Help me sit up.”

A hand smacked into the side of Stiles’ face. “Hey!” He knew Hale could see him. Stiles grabbed his hand and pulled him up.

“I’m thirsty.”

“Sure, I’ll call room service, have them deliver a cup of water.” Stiles reached out to where he thought Hale’s head should be. Success! “Are you all right?” he asked, all fake concern. He fumbled his hand all over Hale’s stupid beardy face, squishing his nose.

“You better hope we’re not stuck in here for long,” Hale growled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: dish, knock, back

Stiles rolled his eyes. He didn't need to see Hale to know he was glaring; that was his default expression around Stiles.

“Where are we?” Hale demanded.

“No idea, dude. I literally just got here.” Stiles took out his phone and turned on the flashlight.

They were in a small room with stone walls. There were two doors opposite each other, and a china hutch - no dishes in it - in the middle of one of the empty walls.

Hale strode over to one of the doors, knocking into Stiles on the way. Stiles stuck out his tongue at his back.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: hurl, weapon, pull

The door didn't open, despite all of Hale's attempts at pushing, pulling, and sliding. It didn't respond to the other weapons in his arsenal, glowering and swearing, either.

After confirming the complete lack of signal on his phone, Stiles checked the other door. Unsurprisingly, the knob wouldn't turn when he tried it. There were no hinges, and he couldn't get a fingernail between the door and the frame. There wasn't even a gap between the bottom of the door and the floor.

He turned just in time to see Hale hurl himself at his door.

“Dude, I think they’re fake.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: medium, comfortable, fantasy

Hale glared-squinted at him. Stiles bit back a smirk and lowered his phone so the light wasn't shining in his face.

“Why don’t you use that for something that will actually help?” Hale asked, gesturing at Stiles’ phone.

“No signal. What about yours?”

“...I don’t have it.”

Of course he didn’t. “Better get comfortable, then.” Stiles leaned against the wall.

“You're enjoying this,” Hale muttered.

“Yeah,” Stiles snorted, “this is my fantasy come to life. Really.”

Hale began to pace.

Stiles didn’t like to spend a lot of time around Hale; words weren't his medium. This was going to suck.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: voice, camera, pretty

“So who did this, and why?” Stiles wondered.

“Like you don't know,” Hale said, a sneer in his voice.

Stiles wrinkled his brow. _What?_ “Am I missing something?” he asked. Hale ignored him in favor of more pacing.

Yeah, their kidnapping probably had something to do with the territory negotiations their packs were hashing out, but that still left a lot of unanswered questions. There was a slight possibility - a miniscule, molecular possibility - that this was something else. Maybe a supernatural version of _Punk’d_? Stiles seriously considered that for a moment. No, Hale would never smile pretty for the cameras.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: coal, large, thin

Since Hale was being less than helpful, Stiles turned his attention to their prison. The room they were in wasn't large and it didn't take long to see that there wasn't a handy unused coal chute they could climb out through (movies were liars - Stiles had yet to find a basement with such a feature).

“What are you doing?” Hale growled.

Stiles shrugged. “Looking for another way out.”

Hale snorted in disbelief.

“What is your problem, dude?” Stiles was well acquainted with Hale’s negativity, but this was over the top and Stiles’ patience was wearing thin.

“Like you don’t know.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: tempt, bloody, credit

“‘Like you don’t know,’” Stiles repeated mockingly. “You’ve said that twice now. Are you accusing me of something?”

“Are you going to pretend you and McCall had nothing to do with this?” Hale countered.

“Excuse me?” Stiles sputtered. “Why would we-”

“You’re trying to distract my sister from the territory negotiations and take control of Beacon Hills.”

“Wow,” Stiles said after a moment. “I was giving you too much credit when I told Scott you were the observant type. You’re an idiot.”

“An idiot who can easily tear out your tongue, leaving you with a bloody stump. Don’t tempt me.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: edge, normal, shame

Normally, Stiles would try to smooth things over, because the situation had them both on edge and they obviously dealt with that in very different ways. But he got the impression that Hale wasn’t just lashing out; he genuinely believed that Scott, and by extension, Stiles, wanted to cheat the Hales out of their ancestral territory. That was a shame. Scott and Stiles (mostly Stiles) had been hoping to learn more about werewolfing from werewolves with actual experience, but if Laura, the Hale alpha, felt the same way as her brother, there was no chance that was going to happen.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: claim, drag, disaster

Stiles took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “If Scott and I did this, why would I trap myself here with you?”

“So we wouldn’t suspect you were behind it.”

“Oh my god.” Stiles dragged his hand through hair. This was going to end in disaster. “You must think I’m as stupid as you are.”

Hale growled.

“Oh, did that offend you? Good, because _I’m_ offended that you think I would be part of something that idiotic.”

“So you claim you had nothing to do with this?”

“Exactly!”

“Then who did, genius?”

Stiles ignored Hale’s sarcasm. “Good question.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: bend, scratch, pure

“Who would benefit from disrupting the negotiations?” Stiles went on.

“You and McCall,” Hale answered immediately.

“Okay, Mr. One Track Mind, let’s think outside the box.” Stiles would try to figure out Hale’s problem with him and Scott later.

“I don’t know,” Hale unbent enough to admit.

“A neighboring pack?” He and Scott had barely scratched the surface of the supernatural world.

Hale shook his head almost before Stiles finished asking. “No, we’re on good terms with everyone nearby.”

Personally, Stiles didn’t think that proved their pure motivations, but he didn’t point that out. “And the not-nearby packs?”

Hale shrugged.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: draw, pluck, red

“Well, we’re not going to figure this out right now,” Stiles muttered. “Okay, on to getting out of here.”

Hale snorted.

“Dude, at least admit there’s a chance I’m not lying. Anyway, sticking with me is your best bet either way.”

“Stop calling me dude.” Then he added, reluctantly, “Why?”

“Should I draw you a picture? If I did do this, I know the way out. As it is, I’m smart enough to figure it out eventually.”

“Or to pretend you’re figuring it out.”

Stiles sighed. Talking to Hale was like plucking out splinters, tedious and painful. “Enough. Red light.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: loose, shelter, trace

“What?” Hale sounded more confused than angry, which was a nice change.

“As in stop. What’s your problem? I know you can tell if I’m lying by my heartbeat.”

“We can be fooled, especially by practiced liars.”

“I assume you’re referring to me,” Stiles said, a trace of bitterness in his voice. Hitting a werewolf was a bad idea. It wouldn’t hurt Hale, and there was nowhere to take shelter if he decided to let loose his inner beast in retaliation. “So you’d believe me if I couldn’t protect Scott’s secret -  _your_  secret - so well? Never mind, we’d be dead.” 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: save, green, panic

“Whatever,” Hale growled.

“Screw your whatever, man,” Stiles said and retreated to his side of the room. The walls were closing in; this wasn’t the time for a panic attack. He really hoped he wasn’t about to have one.

“When can we expect McCall to ‘save’ us?” Hale asked.

“Kinda hard for him to do that when he doesn’t know I’m gone,” Stiles mumbled. He was too tired and angry to argue with Hale anymore. It wasn’t helping and it certainly wasn’t getting them out of there.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash of green light.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: confusion, plead, shout

“What was that?” Stiles muttered in confusion. He wasn’t really talking to Hale, but Hale answered anyway.

“What’s what?”

“I saw a flash of light.”

“Really.”

“Yes, really.” Stiles was trying very hard not to shout.

“Where?”

“Um, by the cabinet, maybe?” He took a step toward it, then it hit him. “Wait, why is that the only thing in the room besides us?”

He took out his phone again - he was really tired of the dark - and turned on his flashlight. Then he saw how much battery he had left.  _Just a little longer_ , he pleaded with the universe. 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: minute, proposal, flush

“So I’m supposed to believe-” Hale began, but Stiles didn’t wait to be accused yet again of conspiring to kidnap himself.

“I have a proposal for you,” he snapped, an angry flush crawling over his face. Thankfully Hale couldn’t see it. Probably. “You stop being a stubborn asshole and I’ll investigate the one anomaly in the room. Deal?”

Hale didn’t answer, so he took it as agreement.

It was hard to examine the cabinet without better lighting, but it seemed ordinary enough.

“Find anything?”

“Give me a minute, would you? I just got started and I’m working  _in the dark_.” 


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: lead, silver, tap

Light glinted off of the silver filigree that decorated the corners of the cabinet. The glass in the door was spotless, the dark wood polished to a gleam. It didn’t belong in this room.

Stiles pulled the knob, but it wouldn’t open. He tapped on the glass - the sound it made was dull, as if it wasn’t glass at all.

“That’s weird,” he muttered to himself. He knocked on the glass, then on the side - it sounded the same. “I think it’s a door,” he said.

“Where does it lead?” Derek asked, not completely accusatory.

“I have no idea. Yet.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: cupboard, fall, slam

“What makes you think the cupboard is a door?” Hale moved closer.

“Look, I mean, listen. Does that sound like glass?” Stiles tapped the glass again.

“Okay. I repeat, where does it go? How do we open it?”

“Still no idea.” Stiles ran his fingers along the back edge of the cabinet, but he didn’t find anything like hinges. “I think there’s a spell on it.”

“Magic. Really.”

“Yeah. I’m going to try something.” With one hand on the cabinet, he pushed with his spark. Then he flew across the room, slammed into the wall and fell to the floor.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: doubt, choose, gain

Stiles blinked. He couldn’t see. Where- What- Something was wrong. He couldn’t see.

“You’re awake. Good.” The sound of Hale’s voice jolted Stiles back to full awareness.

Kidnapped, prisoners, dark room. Right.

He tried to sit up. “Owww.”

“Anything broken?” Hale sounded worried, but Stiles doubted it. Unless he was worried about dealing with an injured human.

“No,” Stiles said, testing his limbs. “Just sore.”

“Here.” Hale touched him and Stiles’s pain drifted away.

He sighed in relief. It was a good sign that Hale was choosing to help him, right?

“Now that you’ve regained consciousness…”

“Go on,” Stiles growled.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: threaten, brave, swap

“What did you discover?”

“You mean before I was thrown across the room by a defensive spell?” If Stiles was braver, or maybe he meant stupider, he would punch Hale in the face. “Give me a minute to recover, huh?”

Hale grunted.

“Or we could swap places. I’ll stand here doing nothing and  _you_  mess with magic. How about that?”

It was dark, but Stiles could feel Hale looming over him threateningly.

“Save it, wolf boy. I’m tired of you and your shit attitude. Knock it the hell off or you can figure out how to escape on your own.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: fog, gun, deserve

Hale snorted. “You wouldn’t be able to resist sticking your nose in,” he said, then sighed. “Even if I don’t deserve it.”

Huh? Stiles shook his head, trying to clear the mental fog left by being knocked out and then the pain drain and then the complete emotional whiplash Hale had just subjected him to. “Huh?”

“You probably didn’t have anything to do with our situation,” Hale added reluctantly, as if being forced to say it at gunpoint.

“Wow, thanks,” Stiles said drily. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“Now will you tell me what you learned?”


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: right, beam, feel

“Right, back to business.” Stiles rubbed his face. “Um, there wasn’t much to learn. A standard illusion spell with a not-so-standard defensive component.”

“Is there anything you can do to get past it?”

Stiles considered his options. “Maybe? I’m still learning, but there’s a few things I can try.” He got to his feet, still feeling woozy. He stayed completely still, waiting for his head to stop spinning.

“What’s wrong?” Hale demanded

“It’s dark and I’m dizzy. Do the math.” Too bad he couldn’t beam over there - if he could, he’d beam out of the room entirely.

“I’ll help you.”


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: dirty, sword, heal

_Are you sure you want to dirty your paws on a filthy liar like me?_  Stiles didn’t say. He really did need Hale’s help and saying that would just put them back at square one. And hey, he could control his tongue after all. He would have to tell Scott.

“My knight in shining armor,” he said instead. “Gonna show me your sword?” Well, he could control it a little.

“Come on,” Hale growled - his favorite form of communication, apparently - and grabbed Stiles’s arm.

“Hey, watch it! Injured man here,” Stiles protested. “I don’t heal as fast as you do.”


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: harm, feign, thigh

“You don’t say?” Hale said in feigned surprise. What a sarcastic bastard. Stiles admired that in a guy - not that he was going to tell Hale that.

“Can’t see in the dark, either,” Stiles said drily.

Hale sighed. “It’s not far.” He put his arm around Stiles’s waist and pulled him to his side. Stiles was now plastered shoulder to thigh against the hottest guy he’d ever seen in his life. Too bad Hale was such a jerk. The guy pushed so many of his buttons.

A little flirting wouldn’t do any harm, right?

…yes it would. Stupid head injury.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: angst, roommate, slash

They were back at the cabinet before Stiles could go into an angst spiral over being attracted to the wrong person - again. Although this wasn’t quite the same as when he’d thought his college roommate’s girlfriend was cute and why was she with a dick like Brandon? Ugh, Brandon.

“I’m going to try something,” Stiles said. “Don’t let me get thrown across the room again.” Hale was strong enough to do that. Probably.

“Fine.”

Stiles called on his spark, this time remembering to shield himself from magical attacks. Then he raised his hand and brought it down with a slash.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: safe, get, slap

Nothing happened.

Suddenly, Stiles was being smothered in fabric and knocked to the ground. “What the f-”

“No, no, no,” Hale said over and over, his voice muffled by whatever was covering Stiles’s head. He began to slap at Stiles’s clothes.

“What-” Stiles tried again.

“I can’t- it won’t go out,” Hale said, frantic.

Stiles freed himself from what must be Hale’s jacket. Hale continued to smack him, but he didn’t seem to be trying to actually hurt him.

“Help, I have to get help,” Hale said.

Stiles grabbed his hands. “Hale,” he said. Then, “Derek. It’s okay. I’m safe.”


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Words: post, palm, clash

Hale stopped as abruptly as he’d started. “What…” he began.

“I must have triggered another defensive spell. My shield protected me, so it latched onto you. Some sort of fear spell?” Stiles suggested hesitantly. It wasn’t hard to guess what he had been hallucinating. Everyone in Beacon Hills knew about the Hale tragedy.

Hale didn’t answer. He was breathing fast in a post-adrenaline crash. Stiles turned his hands over and traced a symbol on both of his palms.

“That will keep it from happening again.”

“Thank you,” Hale murmured.

Stiles sighed and considered their next clash with the spelled door.

**Author's Note:**

> I literally just finished Vendetta and instead of going back to random, unconnected drabbles, I immediately started another drabble series. At least I don't anticipate this one being as long?


End file.
